A Catalogue of Galactic Supernova Remnants

D.A.Green
Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory
Cavendish Laboratory
Madingley Road
Cambridge CB3 0HE
UNITED KINGDOM

The sections of this document are:
Note: This page for quick local access. Links below are inactive. Select entire catalog to get to all of Dave Green's links. (P. Slane 10/11/94)

1. The Catalogue Format

This catalogue of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) is an updated version of those presented in detail in Green (1984, 1988) and in summary form in Green (1991) (hereafter Papers I, II, and III respectively). This version contains 182 SNRs (which is 8 more than in the summary catalogue of Paper III and 26 more than in the detailed catalogue of Paper II).

The catalogue is available as a summary listing of the parameters for each remnant, and as detailed listings (with references) for each object. Please also see for a cross-reference list of other names used for these SNRs, and the list of abbreviations used in the detailed listings. A paper version of the full listings for all 182 remnants, with the documentation, is available from me on request.

The summary listings will be included in the proceedings of IAU Colloquium 145 on `Supernovae and Supernova Remnants', held in Xian, China, 1993 May 22 to 29 (to be published by Cambridge University Press, eds. McCray, R. & Wang, Z.). Please reference this paper for this version of the catalogue. For each remnant in the catalogue the following parameters are given:

2. Revisions and Notes

2.1 Objects no longer thought to be SNRs

The following objects, which were listed in the catalogue in Paper I, have been removed from the catalogue because they are no longer thought to be remnants, or are poorly observed (see Paper II for references and further details): G2.4+1.4, G41.9-4.1 (=CTB 73, PKS 1920+06), G47.6+6.1 (=CTB 63), G53.9+0.3 (part of HC40), G93.4+1.8 (=NRAO 655), G123.2+2.9, G194.7+0.4 (the Origem Loop), G287.8-0.5, G322.3-1.2 (=Kes 24) and G343.0-6.0.

G350.1-0.3, which was listed in the catalogue in Paper II, was removed as it is no longer thought to be a SNR (see Paper III for details). No objects listed in the catalogue in Paper III have since been removed.

The following objects, which have been reported as SNRs, but have not been included in any of SNR catalogues, have subsequently been shown not to be SNRs:

Some entries in the catalogue have been renamed, due to improved observations revealing a larger true extent for the object (G5.3-1.0 is now G5.4-1.2; G193.3-1.5 is now G192.8-1.1; G308.7+0.0 is now G308.8-0.1).

2.2 New SNRs

The following new remnants were added to the catalogue of Paper II: G0.9+0.1, G1.9+0.3, G5.9+3.1, G6.4+4.0, G8.7-0.1, G16.8-1.1, G18.9-1.1, G20.0-0.2, G27.8+0.6, G30.7+1.0, G31.5-0.6, G36.6-0.7, G42.8+0.6, G45.7-0.4, G54.1+0.3, G73.9+0.9, G179.0+2.6, G312.4-0.4, G357.7+0.3 and G359.1-0.9.

The following new remnants were added to the catalogue of Paper III: G4.2-3.5, G5.2-2.6, G6.1+1.2, G8.7-5.0, G13.5+0.2, G15.1-1.6, G16.7+0.1, G17.4-2.3, G17.8-2.6, G30.7-2.0, G36.6+2.6, G43.9+1.6, G59.8+1.2, G65.1+0.6, G68.6-1.2, G69.7+1.0, G279.0+1.1, G284.3-1.8 (=MSH 10-5(3)), G358.4-1.9 and G359.0-0.9.

Since Paper III, the following SNRs have been added to the catalogue:

2.3 Possible SNRs not listed in the catalogue

The following are possible SNRs for which further observations are required to confirm their nature. Other possible SNRs are reported by Ho et al. (1985), Gosachinskii (1985), Odegard (1986), Fürst, Reich & Sofue (1987), Routledge & Vaneldik (1988), Kassim (1988), Helfand et al. (1989), Meaburn et al. (1991), Leahy, Nousek & Garmire (1992), and Dubner et al. (1992).

Finally, it should be noted that some radio loops in the Galactic plane (see Berkhuijsen 1973) may be parts of very large, old SNRs, but they have not been included in the catalogue.

2.4 Questionable SNRs listed in the catalogue

As noted in Paper II, the following sources are listed in the catalogue as SNRs, although, as discussed in each case, the identifications are not certain: G5.4-1.2, G39.7-2.0 (=W50), G65.7+1.2 (=DA 495), G69.0+2.7 (=CTB 80), G357.7-0.1. The nature of G318.9+0.4 is also uncertain (see Whiteoak 1990).

There are also many objects that have been identified as SNRs and are listed in the catalogue, although they have been barely resolved in the available observations, or are faint, and have not been well separated from confusing background or nearby thermal emission, and their identification as SNRs, or at least their parameters remain uncertain (see Paper II).

3. The Detailed Catalogue

The detailed catalogue includes, for each remnant, notes on a variety of topics. First, it is noted if other Galactic coordinates have at times been used to label it (usually before good observations have revealed the full extent of the object), if the SNR is thought to be the remnant of a historical SN, or if the nature of the source as an SNR has been questioned (in which case an appropriate reference is usually given later in the entry). Brief descriptions of the remnant from the available radio, optical and X-ray observations as applicable are then given, together with notes on available distance determinations, and any point sources or pulsars in the field of the object (although they may not necessarily be related to the remnant). Finally, appropriate references are given for each remnant, complete with journal, volume, page, and a short description of what information each paper contains (for radio observations these include the telescopes used, the observing frequencies and resolutions, together with any flux density determinations). These references are not complete, but cover representative and recent observations of the remnant, and they should themselves include references to earlier work. This version of the catalogue contains nearly two hundred more references in the detailed listings than in Paper II. The references do not generally include large observational surveys --- of particular interest in this respect are: the Effelsberg 100-m survey at 2.7 GHz of the Galactic plane 358d < l < 240d, |b| < 5d by Reich et al. (1990) and Fürst et al. (1990); the review of Einstein X-ray imaging and FPCS observations of Galactic SNRs by Seward (1990) and Lum et al. (1992) respectively; the survey of IRAS observations of SNRs and their immediate surroundings by Arendt (1989) and by Saken, Fesen & Shull (1992); and the survey of HI emission towards SNRs by Koo & Heiles (1991).

References

Any Feedback Comments?

Please e-mail me, or use this form, if you have any comments. In particular, I'd like to know of references for any objects that have been described as SNRs, but that are no longer thought to be remnants, or for possible SNRs not listed in the catalogue that are not already discussed in Section 2.1 or Section 2.3 respectively.
Dave Green/MRAO, Cambridge, UK/D.A.Green@MRAO.CAM.AC.UK